[JURIST] Ethiopian opposition parties on Tuesday filed suit against the National Electoral Board (NEB) [official website] alleging that parties' complaints regarding last month's elections were handled in an irregular manner. The parties allege they submitted 87 pages of evidence [Reuters report] showing irregularities related to the election but were never
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[JURIST] Spanish Justice Minister Francisco Caamano [official profile, in Spanish] said Tuesday that the Spanish government plans to introduce legislation to ban the Islamic burqa [JURIST news archive] in public places. The measure will be included in Spain's Religious Freedom Bill, which would also prohibit religious symbols, such as crucifixes,
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[JURIST] A German court on Tuesday ruled that a same-sex marriage [JURIST news archive] performed abroad must be recognized as a registered partnership in Germany. An administrative court in Berlin held that the marriage must be treated legally as a registered partnership [AFP report], after finding that authorities could not
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[JURIST] The International Steering Group for Kosovo (ISG) [official website] urged the nation to strengthen its efforts in fighting organized crime and corruption, following a meeting [press release, in Albanian] with Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu [official website] and Prime Minister Hashim Thaci [BBC profile], according to local media [Gazeta Express
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[JURIST] A spokesperson for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) piracy division [official website] announced Tuesday that donors will spend more than USD $9.3 million to fund courts in Kenya and Seychelles that prosecute suspected Somali pirates [JURIST news archive]. The Kenyan government announced in April that it
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[JURIST] The UK Bloody Sunday Inquiry [official website] released a report [text] Tuesday concluding that casualties resulting from a 1972 attack on Northern Ireland civilians by British forces were unjustified. The inquiry was launched in 1998 by former prime minister Tony Blair [Guardian backgrounder] in response to pressure from the
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[JURIST] A Turkish criminal court on Tuesday began the trial of 33 retired and active naval officers accused of attempting to overthrow the government and establish military rule. The accused are before the Istanbul 12th High Criminal Court for their connection to a group called Ergenekon [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news
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[JURIST] A Thai court on Tuesday charged 11 protest leaders with terrorism in connection with Thailand's latest round of political violence [JURIST news archive], denying them bail. The men held leadership positions in the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship [party website, in Thai] opposition group known as red shirts
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[JURIST] Three members of the Kenyan Parliament [official website] were arrested Monday after being accused of hate speech in statements made against Kenya's proposed constitution [text, PDF]. The three parliamentarians were among six that were accused [BBC report] of hate speech Monday, including Assistant Minister for Roads Wilfred Machage and
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[JURIST] A Serbian appeals court on Tuesday upheld the conviction and sentences of three members of Serbia's "Scorpion" paramilitary group for the death of 14 civilians in March 1999 during the 1998-1999 Kosovo war [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive]. The court demanded a retrial for a fourth member of the
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[JURIST] A military judge on Monday ordered the release of US Marine Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III, two months after his conviction for killing an Iraqi citizen was reversed [opinion, PDF; JURIST report] by the Navy-Marine Court for Criminal Appeals [official website], citing lack of a fair trial. Hutchins was convicted
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[JURIST] Kyrgyzstan interim President Roza Otunbayeva [Telegraph profile] on Tuesday announced that the referendum seeking approval of a new constitution [text, DOC, in Russian] and a popular mandate for the interim government will be held June 27 despite ongoing ethnic violence [Guardian backgrounder] against the Kyrgyz Uzbek population. The constitution
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[JURIST] Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi [BBC backgrounder] on Tuesday called for the prosecution of those who committed fraud during the 2009 presidential election [JURIST news archive] and vowed to continue leading the resistance movement against incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [official website]. The statement was posted on Mousavi's website
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[JURIST] The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) [official website] on Monday sent a letter to the Venezuelan government expressing their concern over the increasing threat to freedom of expression [press release] in the country. The IACHR cited three recent cases that caused them particular concern. In the first case,
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[JURIST] The Swiss Federal Assembly [official website] on Tuesday approved an agreement [text, PDF] with the US that will allow Swiss bank UBS [corporate website; JURIST news archive] to disclose account information of clients suspected by the US government of tax evasion, but also voted to send it to a
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[JURIST] The Israeli cabinet on Monday unanimously approved plans for an internal probe into the May 31 Israeli raid on several Turkish ships bound for the blockaded Gaza Strip [BBC backgrounder]. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu [official website; BBC profile] expressed his hope that the probe would show that the
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